Alden Richards debuts ‘Out of Order’ on Netflix

October 1 ------ He’s filled cinemas as one of the country’s most bankable leading men, but Alden Richards is about to test if audiences will follow him to a new seat — the director’s chair. The Kapuso star’s first directorial film, ‘Out of Order,’ is set to be released this week, marking a bold move that the industry, his strong fan base, and even some critics have long awaited.

Alden is credited by his real name, Richard Reyes Faulkerson Jr., in this venture, and decisively took complete creative control of the project through Myriad Entertainment’s partnership with Viva Films. To be more precise, he not only stars in the film but also co-wrote the script, in addition to directing and producing the drama-thriller.

Make no mistake that the “Hello, Love, Goodbye” star’s decision to step behind the camera for “Out of Order” was not a whim. In fact, Alden had been gradually moving in that direction even before announcing his partnership with Viva. He took small but telling steps quietly in the past, the most recent of which was dabbling in production with 2023’s “Five Breakups and a Romance,” until he finally felt ready to take on the role of director and realize a longtime dream.

Going all in, Alden premiered his work at the 3rd Da Nang Asian Film Festival in Vietnam in late June under the Asian In-Competition category. Moreover, Out of Order was chosen as one of four world premieres in the festival lineup, with local press noting it as among the standout Asian entries in competition. Now, Alden’s directorial debut is headed to Netflix, slated for release starting October 3, making not only his fellow Filipinos but the streaming audience his next big test.

Timely theme

Even as Alden went into post-production for “Out of Order” months before the devastating scandal gripping the nation today, his film’s theme feels painfully relevant to the times. “The movie is a battle cry for victims of unfair treatment and abuse of power,” said the actor-director, enumerating corruption, injustice, and fractured family ties as the film’s core elements.

“Out of Order” follows lawyer Alex Roman (Alden), who is forced to defend his estranged father, David (Nonie Buencamino), a high-profile attorney accused of murdering a transwoman. The case becomes even more complicated when the prosecutor turns out to be Alex’s ex-girlfriend (Heaven Peralejo), and more so, when he discovers that the victim is his half-sister. From there, the story deepens into a web of moral choices and systemic corruption, until betrayal within the firm and the crushing weight of power dynamics further unravel the facade. “The material that was actually shot for ‘Out of Order’ was three and a half hours long,” Alden shared following a special screening held over the weekend that saw a one-hour forty-five-minute version. “But because of Netflix standards, we had to trim it down a bit... even when I watched the first edit [and felt] ‘yung three hours, parang dumaan lang [just flew by].”

The first-time filmmaker was nevertheless up for the challenge of preserving the core message throughout the running time, and based on the energetic response across the Shangri-La Red Carpet Cinema, it seems like “Direk Alden” got it done.

Source: manilatimes.net